


Out

by GallifreyanFairytale



Series: OQ Prompt Party 2017 [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/M, OQ Prompt Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:31:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyanFairytale/pseuds/GallifreyanFairytale
Summary: Based on prompt 188: "Regina coming out as [bisexual] or pansexual"tw: panic attacks





	Out

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I had two different ideas for this prompt, so I may publish another one shot based on the same prompt, but different (if I finish it, of course).

Every time she even  _ considered _ telling Robin, Regina’s mind went into panic mode. Her heartbeat sped up, her hands started shaking, she had to force every single breath. It wasn’t until she shut her mind down completely that the shaking and trouble breathing would stop and her heartbeat returned to normal.

 

Once Regina started thinking again, she had to be careful. She thought about cooking most of the time because it was safe. Even if something went wrong while she was cooking, Regina could fix it with a wave of her hand. If something went wrong with Robin, it would be a lot harder to fix.

 

Slowly, she would allow her thoughts to wander back to those she cared about. But only once she knew it was safe and she wouldn’t start panicking again.

 

\---

 

It was a Tuesday evening when Ruby returned to Storybrooke. Her first stop was Granny’s diner, and she entered holding the hand of a girl no one in the restaurant had seen before.

 

Regina was there with Henry, Robin, Emma, and the Charmings when the werewolf returned. Snow rushed over to Ruby and pulled her into a hug, startling both Ruby and the mystery girl.

 

“This is my friend, Snow,” Ruby introduced after the hug ended. “Snow, this is Dorothy. My...girlfriend,” Ruby said the word like it was foreign to her. She glanced over at Dorothy, as if questioning if she had used the right word. Dorothy nodded and smiled.

 

“Dorothy!” Snow exclaimed. “Ruby told me about you! It’s so nice to finally meet you,” the princess gushed.

 

Regina watched the interaction silently. Granny welcomed Ruby and Dorothy with open arms, as did Snow, David, Henry, and Emma.

 

“You remember Robin,” Snow gestured towards the former thief. “And Regina, of course.”

 

Ruby nodded and turned to Dorothy, “This is Robin and Regina. If I remember correctly, they had just started dating when I left…?”

 

Robin nodded and stood up. He held his hand out for Dorothy to shake, “It’s nice to meet you.”

 

Dorothy smiled, “You too.”

 

Robin glanced down at Regina, who seemed to have completely spaced out. “Regina,” he whispered.

 

“Oh!” Regina stood up too. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted. It’s nice to meet you, Dorothy.”

 

\---

 

Regina laid awake that night, thinking about Ruby and Dorothy. She hadn’t met Dorothy before, but she happened to know that Ruby’s first love was a boy named Peter who she had accidentally eaten while in wolf form. She also happened to know that after the curse broke, Ruby had shown interest in a man named Billy.

 

Which meant Ruby was attracted to both men  _ and _ women.

 

Which meant Regina wasn’t alone in Storybrooke anymore.

 

\---

 

Regina was only half paying attention to Emma’s ramblings. After all, she had dinner to make and four mouths to feed. The blonde was going on about some TV show she and Henry were watching. Something about a character named Alex had finally accepted herself and there was another character involved somehow. Regina couldn’t remember the other character’s name, but she knew it started with an M. Maddie?

 

The door opened, signaling that Robin, Roland, and Henry were home, so Regina finally spoke up. “Listen Emma, this is fascinating stuff, but I have to go. Bye!” Regina didn’t wait for a response before she hung up.

 

“Hello, Milady,” Robin greeted when he entered the kitchen. He placed a kiss on Regina’s cheek. “Henry was going on about a TV show the whole way home. Do you happen to have any idea what he was talking about?”

 

Regina rolled her eyes, “Probably whatever Emma was talking to me about over the phone just now. It’s a show the two of them watch together. It’s the reason he insists on spending every Monday night at her house.”

 

“Well he was saying something about Alex and Maggie finally getting together. Which reminded me, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something ever since Ruby and Dorothy returned from Oz. You’re okay with them being together, aren’t you?”

 

Was  _ Regina  _ okay with two women dating?

 

“Yes--”

 

Oh. She had been acting so weird because she was thinking how nice it would feel if she could just come out casually like that. But she started panicking every time she started thinking about it and now she was thinking about it and she needed to stop thinking about it but the more she tried to stop the more she thought about it and--

 

“Regina?”

 

Regina wanted to answer, but her mouth didn’t listen to her brain.

 

“Regina!”

 

“I’m okay,” Regina finally managed, even though she was definitely very far from okay. She stared down at the food she was preparing, not daring to look up at Robin. She was cooking. She was okay. Cooking was safe. Cooking was safe. Cooking was safe. Cooking was--

 

Regina dropped the knife in her hand as soon as she realized her knuckles were turning white because she was squeezing it so hard.

 

She let out a breath, and focused on breathing regularly as her heartbeat slowed down.

 

“You’re not okay.”

 

“I’m fine now.” Regina picked her knife back up and continued working on dinner. “Can you get the plates out of the cupboard?”

 

Robin knew better than to argue with Regina when she had a knife in her hand, so he agreed.

 

\---

 

“I need your help.”

 

“With what, may I ask?”

 

Regina stepped into Doctor Hopper’s office and closed the door behind her. “I need you to swear that you won’t tell anybody about this.”

 

“...I promise.”

 

Regina nodded, as if she believed him, and sat down. “I did some research before coming here, because I wanted to know what was wrong with me, and I…” Regina sighed, “I think I’ve been having panic attacks.”

 

\---

 

“I need to talk to you.” Regina knew the only way she could stop panicking was to face her fears. Doctor Hopper may have had other suggestions, but none of them would work as well.

 

“About…?” Robin asked.

 

“There’s something I need to… confess, I guess.”

 

“You don’t need to feel bad about what you did in the past, Regina--”

 

“This isn’t about something I did in the past.” Regina took Robin’s hand and led him to the couch so they could both sit down. “This has to do with that time I freaked out on you last week when I was making dinner. I’ve been having these...panic attacks, and I know there are medical treatments, but I’m just going to tell you this so I can stop being afraid of how you’ll react when you find out.”

 

“Go on.”

 

Regina took a deep breath and forced the words out of her mouth, “I am...bisexual. Meaning I’m attracted to both men and women.” Regina squeezed her eyes shut, not sure what to expect. This could either go well or very badly.

 

Regina felt Robin move. She thought he was standing up, but she didn’t want to open her eyes to see him walk away. What she didn’t expect was to feel a tissue box placed in her lap. She opened her eyes slowly to see Robin sit back down.

 

“You’re crying,” he informed her.

 

Regina ignored the box and her tears, “But you… you’re okay with this?”

 

Robin nodded, “You’re still the same Regina I fell in love with. I may not have known you were bisexual when we got together, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t. Just because you’re attracted to both men and women doesn’t mean you’re less likely to be loyal, it just means that you could have chose almost anyone and you still chose  _ me _ .”

 

Regina smiled. She leaned over and pulled Robin into a hug. “Thank you.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For accepting me.”

 

“Always.” The next sentence tumbled out of Robin’s mouth before he could stop it, “I love you.”

 

It might have been because Regina was already surprised that Robin had accepted her, but she wasn’t shocked at those three words. What surprised her most of all was that she was ready to say them back.

 

“I love you too.”


End file.
